Outdoor volleyball has rapidly become a popular sport and lately its popularity has spread to beaches and other sandy areas. The readily available portable table volleyball kits -- including a pair of ground anchors, poles and a net, although highly satisfactory for use in soil, such as lawns etc., are not always suitable for use in sand because of the differences between sand and the relatively more solid soil. Such prior kits are exemplified by applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,780 and his several eariler patents, featuring auger-type anchors for "threading" into the ground. It has been found that such anchors do not always provide the solidity and stability in looser soils such as sand, considering that volleyball, properly played, generates significant activity involving "crashing" into the net, etc., thus requiring rugged ground anchors. At the same time, in order to be portable, the anchors must be readily fixed to and removable from the ground.
According to the present invention, each ground anchor is a perforated tubular member, preferably having one end formed as a scoop useful for digging in the sand a trench inclined from the horizontal, in which trench the member is laid and covered and packed with sand, the perforations allowing the sand to enter into the interior of the tube so as to add weight and fix it in place. The perforations also serve to "lock" the tube against movement as it receives forces developed during the play. Further, the tube has a pair of longitudinal stabilizing fins that further prevent rocking of the tube after installation. Because the tube is buried at an angle to the horizontal, it has a pair of further openings in which the lower end of the net pole is inserted so as to hold the pole ultimately upright.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the disclosure progresses.